Regenerative Medicine Clinic in Hurst, TX

The average human lifespan is consistently extending, and the medical needs of the aging population are diverse and largely unaccounted for in traditional medicine practices. Alternatively, the focus of the quickly expanding field of regenerative medicine is to address the root causes of complicated disease states that are often associated with the aging body in order to facilitate healing. Regenerative medicine uses human cells, proteins and genes to grow or regenerate damaged tissue and organs that may result due to age, disease, injury or congenital defects. It is a marriage of the existing fields of tissue engineering and molecular biology that allows the body to truly heal.

In contrast to traditional transplantation therapy, which utilizes a donor to replace damaged tissues or organ, regenerative medicine utilizes numerous strategies, including the use of your own biologic material to recreate or regenerate cells and tissues in areas of need in your body. Because the focus is on using your own cells, regenerative medicine therapies could eliminate the need to use donated tissue or organs altogether, do not require immunosuppression for transplant and vastly decrease rejection rates.

Tissue Engineering & Regenerative Medicine

The field of tissue engineering is what has given rise to the rapidly expanding field of regenerative medicine, and is often used interchangeably with the term regenerative medicine.

Your body is made up of cells. These cells form groups to make up tissues, which are the basic functioning units your body uses to form organs. To make tissue, groups of cells secrete a support structure, or scaffold, called an extracellular matrix (ECM). These scaffolds not only support the cells, but they also serve as a communication system between the cells by using different signaling molecules to relay messages throughout the tissue structure. Tissue engineering uses these basic building blocks your body is made of—extracellular matrix, cells and molecules—and recreates functioning tissue. This engineered tissue can then be transplanted into an area of your body that contains damaged tissue in order to replace it. Tissue engineering has been successfully used to repair:

Small arteries

Whole tracheas

Cartilage

Skin grafts

Supplemental bladders

Stem Cell Regenerative Medicine

Stem cells are the cells that exist early on in an organism's life, which later differentiate into all the cells the body needs to function, such as muscle cells, blood cells and brain cells. They are unspecialized cells that have the remarkable ability to divide, almost infinitely, in order to renew themselves. When a stem cell divides the two new cells can either remain stem cells or transform into more specialized cells that have specific functions in tissues and organs. These cells not only become every single different type of cell our bodies need to develop and live, but they also serve as the body's healing system, using their ability to divide and differentiate to replace and renew damaged or dead tissue in a living organism. The potential of stem cell use in regenerative medicine is enormous.

Scientists are currently studying three different types of stem cells, which include: embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS). Stem cells are vital to research into cell-based therapies which use scientist's knowledge of how stem cells develop, differentiate and maintain tissue to grow fresh, healthy tissue. This cutting-edge research seeks to provide permanent solutions in people suffering from diseases such as:

Coronary disease

Type 1 Diabetes

Arthritis

Parkinson’s disease

Cancer

Severe joint damage

Blindness

Deafness

Stem cell therapy is also currently being used for orthopedic injuries and pain management to forestall surgical interventions, potentially eliminating the need altogether. Stem cells function as messengers and not only release chemicals that stimulate your body's natural healing response, but also signal other stem cells to an injured site in the body. Similarly, platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is also being used in orthopedics, ophthalmology and other fields, as a growth factor tool to improve tissue regeneration.

Regenerative Medicine Solutions

While the field of regenerative medicine is still growing, and many therapies are currently unavailable within the U.S., the potential to impact the quality and length of your life is irrefutable. In fact, estimates suggest that one day regenerative medicine solutions could bring substantial benefit to perhaps 1 in 3 Americans.